Wawel Royal Castle (Zamek Krolewski) Krakow

I can't believe it's officially autumn - as in Britain at the moment I hear, temperatures are soaring in Poland and I'm having a great time strolling around the sights in my shorts and flip flops. I arrived in Krakow yesterday afternoon in the scorching heat after two nights in the capital, Warsaw, which was equally warm. Just a pity I'm inland and …

Woo hoo---we made it! We arrived in Krakow at 10am local time, and since we cleared passport control at our connection in Frankfurt, once we got our luggage, we were on our way. It was disappointing that we didn't get a Polish passport stamp, but since we came from Germany, which was part of the European Union, we didn't have to go through any sort …

I broke my computer so this is going to be written from my notes...

We visited Wawel castle and took a tour of the city by carriage its the best way to see all the churches.The two oldest churches in Poland are located here 11th century and 13th century.Take a tour of them they are beautiful.

Just remember the churches were built …

We said goodbye to Vilnius from the bus station and boarded an overnight bus bound for Warsaw with the plan to catch one of the many trains from Warsaw to Krakow. We had thought about staying in Warsaw but with time being short we decided to head straight to Krakow. This was for two main reasons - it's Old Town escaped WWII relatively unscathed and …

Our night train from Prague was anything but luxurious. Thinly padded seats, older cars, and no climate control - just crack open the windows like a farmer. However, it got us there on time and we ended up sharing a compartment with a fellow Canadian. Sam was her name, and she had actually been living in Germany for the past nine months while …

Well today is our last day in Krakow. I love this city and its beautiful old architecture. And of all the cities we have visited so far, I feel the safest here. I still haven't crossed any sketchy people or areas, even when walking at night. Plus I will miss the wide sidewalks that double as parking stalls for cars and the tons of bagel stalls set …

Upon my arrival my good friend from Loyola (and APO brother) Piotr met me for a tour of Krakow. He showed me his school, the squares, markets, churches, the castle, the armory, memorial statues and helped me figure out what it meant to be polish. Here are some things that I've discovered about poland:

1. Polish people hate change, they …

So glad we went to this beautiful city. It was like traveling back to our small towns in Minnesota.

Crossing from Ukraine into Poland was easy. Sasha and Dasha befriended a Polish family on a local bus from Lviv. Since they had a baby we all were allowed to bypass a line of "ants" traveling from Ukraine to Poland to sell cheap booze and cigarettes. We could see them lining on the up Polish side with each man, woman and child holding a bottle of …

As we're on a tight budget and trying to save money where we can, we opted for an overnight bus to get to Krakow from Berlin. I immediately regretted that decision once the bus arrived. Packed & sweaty - nice. Once we crossed the border, it seemed we had moved from a tarmac road (feels normal) to a rock covered military assault course (doesn't …

... the castle and cathedral on Wawel Hill.  Nothing much else for today. Krakow used to be the capital of Poland and the country's largest city.  Polish rulers resided at Wawel Royal Castle until the court and parliament moved to Warsaw in 1596. ...

... of The Barbican and the Florianska Gate which are the remains of the original defensive fortifications of medieval Krakow, as well as visiting Wawel Royal Castle and Cathedral. These were used for five hundred years by the kings of Poland when Krakow ...

... both adjoin the city's premiermost shopping mall, the Galleria Krakowska. One must-see place on a tourist itinerary of Krakow is the Wawel royal castle which could easily be termed Poland's number one national treasure, yet, in my view, suffered ...

... more pleasant than yesterday's grey and blustery conditions. Walking through the town square, we headed toward the Wawel Royal Castle. Built on Wawel Hill (a high point in Krakow) in the 14th century, it isn't your typical castle, but rather a series of ...

... train, and tram systems to arrive at our hostel.  After a short nap, we went out to explore Krakow.  Our first stop was Wawel Royal Castle which was right around the corner from our hostel.  The castle is huge!  Almost every ruler of ...